


Gifts for ANSWER

by limitedkana



Category: THE iDOLM@STER
Genre: Christmas, Gen, Gift Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:22:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28312284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/limitedkana/pseuds/limitedkana
Summary: Nono takes time during her holiday gift wrapping to reflect on her growth not only as an idol, but as a friend as well
Kudos: 1





	Gifts for ANSWER

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas, @pmodeled ! I was your Secret Santa for this year’s Im@s Secret Santa project on Twitter! I hope you enjoy this, Nono is extremely relatable for me as a character and I hope my writing conveyed her well! Please stay safe and I hope you have a good rest of the holiday season! <3)

The dormitories of 346PRO were cast in an almost orange glow during the holiday season, the lights from the city coming in through the windows and illuminating some of the decorations that had been strung up around the common areas. Christmas was always a grand affair in the office; usually the older idols took the liberty of hanging the lights, preparing the food, and generally picking out the theme of the decor, and the younger girls decorated the tree and made their lists to Santa, the chatter of what they wanted almost a constant leading up to the holiday. Of course many of the girls traveled home for the occasion - Morikubo herself would be going to her uncle's home - but having the dorms and offices decorated put everyone in high spirits for those last few weeks of work.

Morikubo was the only one awake from what she could tell, quite the mess laid out in front of her at the dining table. Rolls of wrapping paper of all different colors and patterns, tape, scissors, and a bag of assorted gift bows and ribbons. Behind everything were two decently sized shopping bags containing gifts, labeled Mirei and Syoko respectively. There was also a smaller one that contained gifts for the seven newcomers, and even though Nono hadn't interacted with them much until now she hoped they would still be happy with everything.

The girl let out a soft sigh at the work to be done, checking her phone for the time. As long as she was in bed by midnight, she would probably be okay. She figured the new idols' gifts would be the easiest to start with, and she worked through them one by one for the next hour or so. An apple cutter and candle for Tsujino-san, a new pair of earbuds for Sunazaka, a necklace for Kiryu-senpai. Kurosaki and Shirayuki had been a bit difficult to choose for; Morikubo had ended up getting Ranko-chan's assistance for these, and she ended up picking out a pair of gemstone earrings in their respective image colors. 

"A perfect offering to the queen of darkness and her loyal companion!" Was all Ranko-chan said about it, and Nono decided to take it as a declaration of satisfaction before she ended up in an entire lesson of Chuuni Linguistics.

Finally, there were the Hisakawa twins, and Nono realized now just how different those two were. Hayate-chan was much more the typical 'idol'; she was always going on about lessons and the cute dresses, and how she wanted to be noticed by everyone. She was a nice girl, just a bit.. overbearing. Nagi, on the other hand, was almost in a class of her own. The lack of expression, the speaking in book quotes, just the aura she carried was something Nono had never encountered before. Hisakawa-chan reminded Morikubo a lot of herself, when she thought about it, and she hoped the two of them would become closer as their careers advanced onwards.

A poem book was the last thing to go into the first roll of wrapping paper, and it was now Morikubo sensed another presence in the room. She glanced but didn't actively turn back to face them, inhaling and exhaling softly. "Producer... I-I..hope I'm not being a bother.."

"What are you doing, Morikubo-san?"

The curly haired girl paused and felt her cheeks grow warm, fidgeting with her hands and placing them in her lap. "U-um, Morikubo.. bought her friends Christmas presents.." She took a moment to catch her breath. "I didn't want to forget, so I went ahead and started wrapping them here.."

She finally turned and watched as they leaned against one of the kitchen counters, smiling and chuckling a bit. "Nono, you've grown a lot since you first debuted, haven't you?"

"What do you mean, Producer?"

"Well, you were so scared of everything; the lessons, the music, all of it., I'm glad you've opened up more, Morikubo-san.."

Nono let their words soak in a bit, staying silent for a few minutes as she pulled out the next and final set of presents. The formation of Individuals was one of her most cherished moments as an idol; a trio of herself and some of her most precious friends learning to accept themselves and become more confident. When she had first started her journey, Morikubo never thought she would be able to stand on a stage like that, a stage where she was strong and unafraid. Back then, she had just been..

"A squirrel, right?" Her voice was just a bit louder now, carefully undoing the protective wrapping of the items in her hand. Enamel pins, two for each of them. A pair of red mushrooms with white spots for Syoko, a cat and teddy bear head with eyepatches for Mirei, and.. a pair of squirrels for Nono, with bright eyes and blushed cheeks. "Ah, I mean..! Morikubo.. gets compared to a squirrel a lot.. back then I was skittish, and I still am, but.." She smiled softly at them all. "I think I've grown into a more confident squirrel at least.. hehe.."

The Producer tilted their head in slight confusion, coming around and taking the seat on the opposite side of her. "Could you elaborate a bit, Morikubo-san?"

Nono swallowed thickly at the question and felt her hands begin to shake again as she started to place each pin set into its own box, but she nodded regardless. "Um, well.. Mirei-chan and Syoko-chan.. they're a bit strange, right?" Her question held no trace of malice. "I-I mean, compared to idols like Rin, Mika.. the three of us have a harder time fitting in.." 

"But, I think that's what makes us unique, too.." Nono was diligently wrapping everything now, her hands folding the excess paper with a level of care that a lot of the girls her age probably wouldn’t have used. “Mirei-chan showing me her fashion sense, Syoko letting me watch her take care of her mushrooms and us calming her down when she’s in her other mode.. It’s all been so fun..!” She suddenly felt her eyes growing wet and paused, sitting back in her seat and touching a finger to the corner of her eye. “Uh.?”

“You’re right. You’ve grown up a lot, Morikubo-san. I’m happy you’ve found friends here, genuinely.”

“Friends.. They’re more important to me than that, I think..” Nono had gotten up to retrieve a paper towel to wipe her eyes with, returning to the table. “N-not in the romantic sense..! Just.. they mean a lot to me, Producer.. I hope we can stay like this for a long time..!”

The table was soon adorned with a stack of neatly wrapped presents, each now properly tagged and a bow sitting on the top of every box. Morikubo finally felt her exhaustion setting in, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes. Producer had left a bit ago to get coffee from what she remembered, and the quiet warmth of the common area was pulling her into sleep..

“Nono-chan?”

She opened her eyes again slowly, a familiar purple haired girl standing over her and a silver haired one at her side. In their hands were blankets and a few pillows, a smile on both of their faces.

“Mirei-chan..? Syoko-chan..?”

Mirei hugged her suddenly, causing the curly haired girl to jolt and make some sort of strangled cry of help in her arms. “Nono-chan, Nono-chan! Producer said you were awake this late, so he brought us here for a sleepover! It’s fine, isn’t it? It’ll be fun!”

Syoko was already setting up the blankets on the living room floor, a small potted mushroom suddenly appearing on the coffee table. “Hehe.. we couldn’t forget our fourth friend either, though..”

Nono smiled after a few more moments and began to follow Mirei into the living area, slowly taking her hair down and settling into her section of the blankets. “You two.. Thank you..” She could feel that warmth in her chest again, curling up next to Mirei and feeling Syoko crawling in on the other side.

“Hehe.. you were wrapping gifts, weren’t you Morikubo-san?”

“Presents?! Hey, can we open them now? Please, Nono-chan?”

Morikubo couldn’t help but laugh at their eagerness, shaking her head. “Mm, that would ruin the fun.. I think.. You’ll like them though..”

After all, you’re my most precious friends..

Mirei let out an exaggerated groan and flopped back down into her sheets, sighing. “Bleh, I guess you’re right! Goodnight Nono-chan, Syoko-chan..”

“Goodnight..to mushroom-san as well..”

“Goodnight girls..”

Nono listened as the room finally went quiet and her eyes had a moment to close, a sort of “full” feeling in her chest now.

Let’s keep growing and having fun as idols in the future, too..!


End file.
